Reborn As The Villain

Chapter 309: SS Chapter 1 - The Doctor

Chapter 309: SS Chapter 1 - The DoctorIt was a starry night.

The night was thick with clouds, hiding the trees in darkness, while snow blanketed the landscape as far as the eye could see. A biting chill filled the air seeping through every layer of clothing, thinly dressed or otherwise. Each step through the heel deep snow broke the silence with a crisp crunch, the only sound in the frozen stillness.

A light could be seen in the distance, coming from another person's lantern. There were no worries to avoid patrols since this location is known only to a few.

Nearing that light was a tall woman draped in only a black kimono, the snow leaving her unaffected by its biting frost. When looking closely, one would notice a faint white energy surrounding the woman's body that gave off the smell of herbs.

To the uninformed, this mysterious woman had rubbed mysterious herbs over her clothes to create a ward that protected her against the cold and produced sufficient heat for her body. Arcane spells are alien to this world so she has to rely on other methods to make certain things more convenient and to help with her important work.

The woman stopped when she was mere inches outside the other person's lantern light. Upon hearing her, said person turned off the lantern, revealing a porcelain beauty with sky-blue hair that leaned more on white. She was wearing a scarf and a hooded robe but it was evident in her rubbing her hands together that those were useless against the snow.

The woman took out a pouch, put her hand inside and threw some kind of dust on the young girl. Her freezing breath vanished and she stopped shivering. When she was about to thank the woman, said woman went "let's just get this meeting over with before the road patrols start getting too curious".

"Thank you for coming out to meet me again, Madam Lian." The young girl bowed gracefully.

She had the face of a maiden no older than 17 and looked like a sheltered noble girl—well, that is clearly what she was.

"I hoped your brother would rest a little before continuing his training." The woman said grimly, "Training to the point of breaking his whole body down, only to ask for miracle drugs from me, is not healthy. It will have dire consequences in his old age."

"...He knows that too, Madam Lian. It hurts me to see him so dedicated..." The girl said softly in a tiny voice.

"Kohana, I need you to keep an eye on how many times he takes this drug. It's supposed to be 1 pill after every meal. We met just two days ago so it's suspicious how the last batch is already done when I made enough for five days."

"Kohana" awkwardly averted her eyes and tried to grab the pouch but Lian held it back.

"Do you know something about that?" Lian pressed the issue ahead.

"I... I'm sorry... I-I was so convinced by him telling me exceeding the dosage will make his body stronger that I..."

"..." Lian held out the pouch again, "It's good that I caught wind of this early on. This drug is only meant to refine broken bones and strengthen torn muscles through the miracle of healing. It is not meant to improve your abilities through the ceiling, only mastering your internal energy, natural growth and training can do that."

"What about talent?" Kohana took the pouch and quickly put it away.

"Yes, that too. But we can't rely on talent when we have two tyrannical overlords breathing down our necks."

One of them being the one that killed her father, the emperor.

Kohana bit her lip upon imagining that man's face.

"No one else will tell you this so I will be the one to do so: Your brother will not make it out of this alive even if he manages to win against Ko Johun. He is already pushing his body to the absolute limit for the sake of martial arts."

There is a big difference between the gifted and normal people when it comes to potential and power.

"He told me he still needs to do it because no one else can..."

Kohana has

"Quit whining. You were the one who attacked these people first."

Standing on the leg of a Fire Serpent army soldier was a tall young man with silver hair and golden eyes.

'...Who is that?'

Lian noticed that there were several other Fire Serpent soldiers surrounding the man but all of them were hesitant to approach, only able to point their blades at him. Who is this man to be able to make Earthly Ascendentshesitate to attack?

"D-Doctor! Run!" one of the villager women called out to Lian, "They want to take you! Run away!"

"!"

"There she is!" a soldier shouted and ran towards her with incredible speed, "Come with us quietly or we'll take one of your limbs!"

Lian didn't even realize at the last second that he appeared in front of her and was about to grab her. However, his head was smashed into the concrete wall next to her, his brain matter splattering everywhere.

It was the silver-haired young man. His glowing golden eyes looked at her with a frown, or rather above her head, whispering something she couldn't hear, "So, you're the one who created it..."

A shadow appeared above the man—one of the assassins who accompanied the soldiers. His poison daggers sliced through wind as the young man disappeared.

"Hn?" this time, a shadow appeared above the assailant with Lian thinking in that moment that he was a giant fighting with ants, "Eek!" before the assailant could escape, the man struck his acupuncture points with tremendous speed, rendering him limp for the moment. He grabbed the assailant by his cloak and dragged him towards the center of the village.

"The one who gives me the answer I'm looking for will get to live." The young man threw the assassin to the ground. Said assassin could try to escape once the feeling in his legs return but that would prove difficult given how fast the young man is.

"I heard there's a pure martial arts book here—where can I find it?"